He said: "We need to have a local economy which caters for everyone from the age of eight to the age of 80 and The Abbot was part of this diverse offering.

The building, on Station Road, has been a pub since 1997 (Image: Paul Martyniuk)

"My great fear is losing pubs outside the town centre, as these are key to people who live further out, but The Abbot was nonetheless a neighbourhood pub and very much part of the town centre neighbourhood.

"I like the idea of pubs being not just a pub but a local - which The Abbot certainly was."

The pub, which opened in 1997, had a pool table and darts board, and hosted pub quizzes, karaoke nights and live screenings of sports matches.

Cllr Essex said he is surprised the pub, which is in a "beautiful old building", did not stay open long enough to benefit from the forthcoming Marketfield Way development.

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It will see a multi-screen cinema complex and a 13-storey building, which includes ten retail units as well as flats, become a part of Redhill town centre in 2019.

The pub was not included in the £40 million development, but the building backs onto the strip where the new restaurants and cinema are set to open.

"I feel like the pub would have fitted in well and been served well by the new cinema, restaurants and shops," Cllr Essex added.

"I would have expected it to stay open, given the upcoming development, and I'm surprised that it hasn't.

An artist's impression of the Marketfield Way development (Image: Reigate and Banstead District Council)

"My hope is that it will be taken on by a new owner and for it to have a new lease of life as a pub."

Echoing Cllr Essex's concerns, Councillor David Pay, who represents Redhill West on the borough council, said: "Sadly, The Abbot is closing in line with what seems to be most public houses both locally and nationally.

"Pub closures are a major problem, not just in Reigate and Redhill, but across the country."

In the wake of the closure, Cllr Essex, who campaigned for the re-opening of The Garibaldi in Mill Street, is urging people who live and work in Redhill to support their local pub.